The stream is the place to have meaningful conversations
with the people you care about. It centralizes all the content
people have shared with you, as well as the people who are
trying to share with you, but who aren't yet in your circles.
You might see text posts, pictures, videos, links, or location
markers. When you share with people either individually or
through a circle, your content will appear in their
stream.

Sparks brings you stories on the things
you love from all across the Web, so it's easy to strike up
meaningful conversations with your friends. Let's say
you're learning about fashion. You can search for
'fashion,' then add it as an interest so you can always be kept
up to date on the world of fashion. If you are interested,
you can watch the Sparks
introduction video.

Are you part of a
particular social circle? Maybe you are but
possibly do not even realize. Keep in mind a social
circle does not have to be very large. Nor do they
have to be online. Fortunately, joining a social
circle is rather easy. In fact, unlike as attempted
by Alan Garner in the movie
Hangover, you do not need to draw blood to join
the pack.

Image Source: Hangover

It is questionable
if a circle of one can be considered a social
circle. However, I do believe that if you have at
least one other person, you can qualify. For the
purposes of this website, let's go forward based on
the understanding that to develop a social circle
(or a pack), you will need at least one person in
addition to your self. Basically, you plus one
other will suffice.

Social circles have
existed along side humanity for long before the
internet was invented. Circles have existed, but
over the years the method in which to engage with
one another has changed. As we move from one
vehicle to the next, we find that our social circles
come along for the ride. For example, going back in
history people formed social circles via face to
face interaction. After the invention of the
telephone, the phone because an important tool to
keep tabs on the members of your social network.
After the invention of the internet, you and your
friends may have experimented together with
MySpace, then possibly
twitter,
or
facebook. Then came along
Plus One (+1)
and the Google social network called "Circles". So
what is next? Only time will tell.

Regardless of the
network (method in which we socialize with our
circles), humans apparently enjoy socializing with
one another. Actually, maybe I should not use the
word "enjoy". Some of us enjoy social networking.
However, others may use networking simply as a
method to conduct business (possibly not for
enjoyment but out of necessity). Oh yeah, I almost
forget to mention LinkedIn
which had originally been developed as a method for
corporate America to manage their business contacts
(and expand their business contacts).

OK, if you are
reading this website, we can assume that you are at
least some what in agreement that social networks,
business networks, and social circles are an
important aspect of modern life in the United States
and around the globe. Now that we are all in
agreement, let's discuss various aspects of online
social circles.

Google
Circles

Google has a social
networking method that is being called "Circles".
In our opinion, this was a very good name
selection. The term "social circles" is very common
and it is easy for people to understand the
concept. In summary, the system allows users with a
profile to create categories to classify their
acquaintances. For example, a user can create a
separate circle (category) for the following and
more:

Friends

Family

Co-Workers

Ex-Girl
Friends or Boyfriends

Business
Connections

And the list can go
on and on. Actually, I am not sure if they have a
limit to the number of categories (you will have to
do your own research on that issue). As far as I
know, the Circles (Categories) can not currently be
broken down into further tiers (sub categories or
sub circles). The following is an example with sub
circles.

Friends

Best Friends

Good Friends

Family

My Family

My Wife's Family

Family I rarely see

Co-Workers

My Bosses

Ones with Sense of Humor

Ones I hate but must
pretend to like

Ex-Girl Friends or
Boyfriends

Ones I want to make jealous

Ones I want to annoy

Sexy Ones And I want to see
pictures

Business Connections

From My Last Job

From Trade Shows

New York

Los Angeles

In my opinion, sub
circles would be beneficial and I think that Google
should have consulted me and I would have suggested
this method to them (note: this is being written
July 15, 2011; by the time you read this possibly
they have created a sub category system for
circles). In all honesty, if it was up to me, I
would say to add sub categories to the sub
categories and so on.

Anyway, in a
nutshell Google Circles is a networking resource
that allows you to categorize your aquantences into
various circles. Via the circles will can share
comments, photos, and videos by allowing members of
your circles to view your streams.

Visible vs. Non
Visible Social Circles

Some social environments
are visible to the public and other social
environment are not visible. Furthermore, some
networks are a combination and have portions of
the network visible and other portions not
visible to everyone.

Some networking sites are
visible in an effort to promote members. This
is typically relevant for business to business
networks. For example, if you work in the
fashion industry, and you wish to promote your
product or fashion relevant services to other
members of the industry, you may want to join a
networking site such as the
Fashion Industry Network. From social sites such
as these, you will find "groups", which are
similar to social circles. The groups can be
set to private. However, currently on the above
mentioned networks they are visible to all.

Note: portions
of visible networks may be private; such as
private e-mailing functions.

In regard to Google
Circles, people with profiles can manage to some
extent what is public and what is not public.
Although I am not certain that this will always
be the case, but for now if you place a person
into one of the circles that you have created,
they do NOT see the title of the circle. In
other words, if you have a Circle titled "My
Enemies", in theory the people that you place
into that category (circle) will NOT be able to
see how you have classified them.

Note: If you have
questions regarding the Google system, you
should most definitely seek the most up to
date and accurate answers directly from
their website. The information and links
here on this website is not official
information. This is just our opinion and
our understanding of the services.
Obviously, we could be wrong and also
services, rules, methods, etc., continuously
change. Therefore, definitely go directly
to Google
to find out the correct information.

In our opinion, we do
not think that Google will allow anyone to
see the social circles that you create with
their system. However, we certainly know to
never say never. Although the intention was
to keep circle titles private, it must be
assumed that anything is possible. Anyway,
in our opinion, it is always a good idea to
me nice to "all" of your acquaintances.
Therefore, you should not label your
categories with any mean spirited
terminology.

Do you think it is
appropriate for people to see circles that
you create? If so, what steps have you
taken to make it easier for people to find
your circles?

Carefully
Select Who Should Be Placed in a Particular
Circle

Once you create your
circles, you would want to be very careful in
regard to who you want added to the circle.

So, what do you think of
social networking and social circles? If you
have found this site to be of interest, please
tell the other people in your circle of friends.

This description was from the Google site July
18th, 2011, "Google+ Circles helps you organize everyone according to
your real-life social connections--say, 'family,' 'work friends,' 'music
buddies,' and 'alumni'. Then, you can share relevant content with the
right people, and follow content posted by people you find interesting.
For example, you might post an announcement about your engagement and
show it only to people in your friends and family circles, or maybe you
see a post from the circle you created for your book club that there's a
recent article on your favorite author."

Would you like to know how your friends classify
you? If you are interested in finding out Circle Titles that which
you have been placed inside, you may want to use the Circle Title
Finding Software. Maybe you can
find out circle titles that
your friends have used for you.

If you are
interested in fashion, you can join the fashion pages below: